Sunday, November 4, 2012

Signs Suggest Landslide....But Signs Don't Vote

Will lawn signs matter ? With a wide disparity in the House race locally, I am sure Matt Doheny hopes so.
Fact is from looking around, you'd not know there is an opponent to Mr. Doheny. Friends of mine who has recently had occasion to drive through eastern portions of NY21 tell me there' even more Doheny signs there. In fairness, Gouverneur Mayor McDougall says there are Owens signs in St. Lawrence County.

It's clear the Doheny posse made signs a priority as would any challenger looking to put their guy's name at the front of voters brains and create a narrative of a wave sweeping the countryside.
But did the Bill Owens campaign just not think they needed signs or is their absence a sign of luke warm support. The Owens campaign posts a photo here and there on Facebook of a visit to a plant or a club, but there is virtually no media coverage.
Seems this incumbent, buoyed by early polls and a feeling of doom and detachment in the GOP chattering class, may have thought this race would be easier..
Just as Mr Doheny's career path is similat to that of Mitt Romney, the trajectory of his campaign has followed that of the national standard bearer.
On the eve of the election, its just too close to predict.

23 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I actually think the imbalance in the signs could hurt Doheny a little. Voters may become complacent and not bother to vote if they think Doheny is virtually running unopposed. Everyone knows the NYS electoral votes for president are going to Obama no matter what so if they think the congressional election is a done deal, people might just pass on the polls entirely this year.

I noticed someone commented on the recent Amaral column where he writes about Doheny blowing him off yet again when confronted with a tough but highly relevant question. Doheny clearly cares more about appearances (thus the signs) than he does about actually making decisions and representing the voters. Honestly, after reviewing Doheny's positions, or lack of them, I am not sure what his supporters are supporting except that they are anti-Obama care. I wish he would be more straight forward. It makes it very hard to vote for him when he just won't engage.

Signs may matter if they were in actual yards of residents versus just placed on sides roads in open fields. That doesn't show me anything but a campaign that doesn't have anything else to do with its signs.

Signs, suit style, haircuts, property ownwership, whose wife is the hottest, yada, yada, yap, yap, etc. etc. ... all fluff and stuff for the weakminded - but, sadly some of those things matter and they should not, but that's the nature of politics ... leave the serious heavy lifting for after you win the seat ... and it stinks.

I am a democrat who drove through St. Lawrence County today. Mayor Ron where are the signs. I saw two Owens signs and I traveled over 200 miles of roads in St. Lawrence County. Some signs would show some support

Wow you would almost think Doheny had actually won a Poll never mind the Congressional race. Excitable bunch the Mayor speaks to, but why do you think you winning when signs are your losing? SIGNS SIGNS everywhere the SIGNS, but their not votes. Go get some votes and maybe the SIGNS of Doheny's demise will pass. I seriously doubt if Congressman Owens loses this race.

C’mon 6:34 PM, I know how much it bothers you guys to have to contend with opinions different than yours… but just because someone disagrees with you and others on this predominantly far right wing blog doesn’t make them an “operative.”

C'mon 10:24...It is the left that love to censor and arrests movie makers on trumped up probation violation charges.

6:34 pegged you guys for the ACORN operatives you are. You are not hard to spot. Not one of you ever expressed an opinion on anything. You just keep repeating the same failed talking point. Hedge fund, Wall Street, Island, Kiss, blah blah blah.

Mikey and the rest of you have your picture in the dictionary next to the definition of Word cloud.

8:36- well, I was going to comment on Doheny's position on federal disaster relief but then I remembered he "didn't have time" to answer Brian Amaral's questions about it. Then I thought I would comment about his position on abortion, but then I remembered he wouldn't comment on Brian Amaral's questions on that issue either. And these two sidesteps were just in the last week alone.

I would love to comment on Doheny's positions on this blog, if he actually had any.

Do I detect a note of desperation in mcm's posts not just here but elsewhere on the blog?Can it be he is worried about reassignment if he doesn't get the job done here?What would be the next stop,Alaska,heehee dress warm Mikey..

You got me 8:36am. You and 6:34 pegged me. I confess, I’m an “ACORN operative.” I was dispatched from a secret underground bunker just outside Roswell New Mexico. I came to Northern New York with the intention of tilting the election in Owens favor. But you guys are just way too smart... I give up!